Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transfer material having a laminated structure in which a base material sheet and a coloring material-receiving layer are sequentially laminated, an image support with a coloring material-receiving layer and a recorded matter each using the transfer material, and manufacturing methods and manufacturing apparatus for the same.
Description of the Related Art
Various thermal transfer recording methods have heretofore been known. Of those, the following thermal transfer method is generally used (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S62-238791). An image is formed by heating a thermal transfer sheet, the sheet having formed on its base material sheet a colored transfer layer, from its back surface with a thermal head or the like according to the shape of the image to be formed to thermally transfer the colored transfer layer onto the surface of a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet. The thermal transfer method has been expanding its market as a full-color hard copy system for various images typified by computer graphics, still images provided by satellite communications, digital images recorded on CD-ROMs or the like, and analog images, such as a video, because of the development of various kinds of hardware and software related to multimedia.
When recorded matters are obtained by forming images on objects formed of various kinds of materials, such as paper, a resin product, and a metal, the images have heretofore been formed on the objects by thermal transfer systems. The thermal transfer systems are roughly classified into a thermal fusion transfer type and a sublimation transfer type depending on the construction of the colored transfer layer. Each of both systems can form a full-color image, and involves: preparing thermal transfer sheets for three to four colors, such as yellow, magenta, cyan, and black colors (as required); and superimposing and thermally transferring respective color images onto the surface of one thermal transfer image-receiving sheet to form the full-color image.
For example, the following recorded matter-manufacturing method has been proposed as a method of manufacturing a recorded matter involving employing a thermal fusion transfer-type thermal transfer system (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-238439). A transfer material in which a receiving layer is provided on a base material in a peelable manner, and a thermal transfer sheet having a dye layer are used, an image is formed on the transfer material by transferring the dye of the dye layer onto the receiving layer, and then the recorded matter is manufactured by heating the transfer material under a state of being brought into abutment with an object to transfer the receiving layer onto the object.
A recorded matter-manufacturing method involving forming an image with a sublimation transfer-type thermal transfer sheet has also been proposed as a method of manufacturing a recorded matter involving employing a sublimation transfer-type thermal transfer system (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-211761).
The sublimation transfer-type thermal transfer sheet enables precise formation of a gray-scale image, such as a face photograph. On the other hand, the image has the following inconvenience unlike an image formed by using an ordinary recording ink. The image is deficient in durability, such as weatherability, abrasion resistance, or chemical resistance. The following has been performed as a solution to the inconvenience (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-044130). A protective layer thermal transfer film having a thermally transferable resin layer is superimposed on a thermal transfer image, and the thermally transferable resin layer having transparency is transferred with a thermal head, a heating roll, or the like to form a protective layer on the recorded image.
In addition, a method involving forming an image on an object by an inkjet system instead of forming the image by the thermal transfer system has been proposed. For example, there has been proposed a technology involving printing an image on the receiving layer of a transfer material by the inkjet system, and heating the transfer material and a transfer body, while superimposing the material and the body, to transfer the receiving layer onto the transfer body (Japanese Patent Translation Publication No. 2006-517871).